Russia renewed a ban on food imports from the U.S., European Union member states and others until Dec. 31, 2020, according to an unofficial translation of a June 24 Russian government notice and a post on the EU Sanctions blog. The ban was originally scheduled to last through Dec. 31, 2019, and also bans food imports from Canada, Australia, Norway, Iceland, Albania, Montenegro, Liechtenstein and Ukraine.
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations advanced a bill on June 25 that would repeal the ban on all exports to Cyprus that fall on the U.S. Munitions List. The change would prohibit the State Department from denying exports, re-exports or transfers of defense items and services to Cyprus as long as Cyprus is the end-user, the bill states. The repeal would advance U.S. “security interests” in Europe by helping Cyprus reduce its dependence on “other countries” for defense products, including countries that “pose challenges” to the U.S., the bill said. The change comes as part of a larger bill that would require the State Department to submit reports to Congress on Russian interference in Cyprus, Greece and Israel. The bill would also call on the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Turkey and Russia if Turkey carries out its plan to buy an S-400 air defense system from Russia.
Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:
Iran is reducing its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action because it said other JCPOA “parties do not abide by theirs,” according to a June 18 press release by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Russian Financial Society, a Russian financial services entity, after OFAC said it helped North Korea evade U.S. sanctions, Treasury said in a June 19 press release. Russian Financial Society provided or attempted to provide “financial, material, technological, or other support for” U.S.-sanctioned Dandong Zhongsheng Industry & Trade Co. Ltd, the press release said. Dandong Zhongsheng is owned by Foreign Trade Bank, North Korea’s “primary foreign exchange bank,” which is sanctioned by both the U.S. and the United Nations, Treasury said.
The European Union released a report detailing what it says are “45 new trade barriers” outside the EU in 2018 that damaged EU businesses, costing them “billions of Euros every year,” the EU said in a June 17 press release. The EU said the report “confirms” the rise of trade barriers encountered by European companies in foreign markets, which is now at 425 barriers in 59 countries.
The European Union Council is considering upholding sanctions placed on 17 Russians for “undermining or threatening” the sovereignty of Ukraine, the council said in a June 7 notice. The sanctions stem from a 2014 decision by the council. The notice contains a new statement of reasons for upholding the sanctions, which may be obtained by the sanctioned individuals before June 14, the notice said.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published a guidance on restrictions in the Russia sanctions regime in the case of a no-deal Brexit, the OFSI said in a June 6 press release. The four-page guidance would only apply if the U.K. leaves the European Union without a deal. The guidance “expands specifically on financial and investment restrictions,” OFSI said, including assets freezes, preventing access to payment processing and requiring license exceptions for continuing to operate under certain restrictions related to Crimea. The guidance also contains a list of Russian banks and entities in which loans, “credit arrangements,” investments and other financial services would be prohibited.
The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and China signed a customs agreement to exchange information about goods and “transport vehicles,” according to a June 6 report from Tass, a Russian state-run news site. The agreement will speed up customs operations, improve efficiency “in the field of risk management,” improve customs control forms and mitigate risks “of transporting potentially dangerous, banned and restricted goods” between the EAEU and China, the report said. Along with China, the agreement was signed by the chairman of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, and officials representing Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, according to the report.
The Trump administration, furious that Central American migrant asylum seekers continue to stream to the U.S., says that unless Mexico can "dramatically reduce or eliminate the number of illegal aliens" coming to the U.S., it will levy tariffs on all Mexican imports, starting June 10. The tariff will begin at 5 percent, go to 10 percent on July 1, and then increase by 5 percent each month until it reaches 25 percent on Oct. 1.